Little One

Little One - Page Text Content

S: The Perfect Little Boy

FC: Rhylee Nainoa

1: You’re only three months old, and at this point in your life you can’t read, much less understand what I’m going to try to tell you in this letter. So I’ve been thinking a lot about the life that you have ahead of you, about my life so far as I reflect on what I’ve learned, and about my role as a mother in trying to prepare you for the trials that you will face in the coming years. You won’t be able to understand this letter today, but someday, when you’re ready, I hope you will find some wisdom and value in what I share with you. You have many wonderful stages of life still to come. I hope to help you along your path by sharing some of the best of what I’ve learned. What works for me might not work for you. Life can be cruel. There will be people in your life that won’t be very nice. They’ll tease you because you’re different, or for no good reason. They might try to bully you or hurt you. There’s not much you can do about these people except to learn to deal with them, and learn to choose friends who are kind to you, who actually care about you, who make you feel good about yourself. There will be times when you are met with disappointment instead of success. Life won’t always turn out the way you want. This is just another thing you’ll have to learn to deal with. But instead of letting these things get you down, push on. Accept disappointment and learn to persevere, learn to turn negatives into positives, and you’ll do much better in life. You will also face heartbreak and abandonment by those you love. I hope you don’t have to face this too much, but it happens. Again, not much you can do but to heal, and to move on with your life. Let these pains become stepping-stones to better things in life, and learn to use them to make you stronger. Yes, you’ll find cruelty and suffering in your journey through life but don’t let that close you to new things. Don’t retreat from life, don’t hide or wall yourself off. Be open to new things, new experiences, and new people. You might get your heart broken 10 times, but find the most wonderful person the 11th time. If you shut yourself off from love, you’ll miss out on that woman, and the happiest times of your life. You might get teased and bullied and hurt by people you meet and then after meeting dozens of jerks, find a true friend. If you close yourself off to new people, and don’t open your heart to them, you’ll avoid pain but also lose out on meeting some incredible people, who will be there during the toughest times of your life and create some of the best times of your life. Life isn’t a competition you will meet many people who will try to outdo you, in school, in college, at work. They’ll try to have nicer cars, bigger houses, nicer clothes, and cooler gadgets. To them, life is a competition — they have to do better than their peers to be happy. Life is a journey. If you spend that journey always trying to impress others, to outdo others, you’re wasting your journey. Instead, learn to enjoy the journey. Make it a journey of happiness, of constant learning, of continual improvement, of love. Don’t worry about having a nicer car or house or anything material, or even a better-paying job. None of that matters, and none of it will make you happier. You’ll acquire these things and then only want more. Instead, learn to be satisfied with having enough — and then use the time you would have wasted trying to earn money to buy those things use that time doing things you love. Find your passion; don’t settle for a job that pays the bills. Life is too short to waste on a job you hate. If there’s a single word you should live your life by, it should be this: Love. It might sound corny, I know but trust me, there’s no better rule in life. Live your life by the rule of love. Love your spouse, your children, your parents, and your friends, with all of your heart. Give to them what they need, and show them not cruelty nor disapproval nor coldness nor disappointment, but only love. Love not only your loved ones, but your neighbors, your coworkers, strangers, your brothers and sisters in humanity. Offer anyone you meet a smile, a kind word, a kind gesture, a helping hand. Love not only neighbors and strangers but your enemy. The person who is cruelest to you, who has been unkind to you love him. He is a tortured soul, and most in need of your love. And most of all, love yourself. While others may criticize you, learn not to be so hard on yourself, to think that you’re ugly or dumb or unworthy of love but to think instead that you are a wonderful human being, worthy of happiness and love and learn to love yourself for who you are. Finally, know that I love you and always will. You are starting out on a weird and scary, but ultimately incredibly wonderful journey, and I will be there for you when I can. I love you always & forever. | Dearest Rhylee,